1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal that can obtain contents such as music, pictures and programs through a plurality of communication paths, and more particularly to a method for selecting contents that a user wishes to reproduce or execute and a method for selecting a communication path to obtain contents.
2. Related Background Art
Portable terminals as represented by portable telephones and PDAs are widely used and have evolved into information terminals with numerous additional functions, such as voice communication, e-mail, Web access, photographing, reproducing music, reproducing pictures and executing programs. Keeping pace with the increase in functionality of portable terminals, the size of contents that can be used on such portable terminals is growing larger. When such large contents are downloaded to portable terminals, the following problems have been occurring: (1) it takes too much time to obtain contents, (2) the cost for communications is expensive and unclear. As new communication methods such as wireless LAN, Bluetooth and infrared are adopted for use on portable terminals, communication costs are likely to become even more incomprehensible to users.
Some methods have been conceived to cope with such problems. For example, one of the methods suggests a so-called via-charger communications method, in which inexpensive broadband wire communications that are currently being installed in homes in increasing numbers are utilized to download contents from a contents source to a contents server installed at home. When a user of a portable terminal comes home, and starts charging the portable terminal at home, the time spent on charging the portable terminal is used to transfer the contents from the contents server to the portable terminal. Through this, the amount of time required to obtain contents from the contents source can be shortened, and therefore communication costs can be reduced.
In another method (second method), a moving picture distribution server is provided with a function to select an optimal communication path from among a plurality of communication paths to thereby realize a reduction in communication costs and a guarantee of bandwidth. Furthermore, whether to give priority to either communication costs or communication speed is registered for each subscriber, so that, based on the subscriber's preference, which of the communication cost reduction and the bandwidth guarantee should be given priority can be designated when selecting the communication path.
In order to cope with the problem (2) described above, still another method (third method) suggests a method for downloading updated fee charge information corresponding to changes in fee charge status of communication costs from an external source to the portable terminal and using the information to display an accurate communication cost. This method especially elaborates on a method for accurately calculating communication costs when a discount is applicable during certain communication hours.
Since current portable terminals are multifunctional and have a plurality of communication paths, an appropriate communication path must be selected for each situation. Some communication paths are usable only in a specific area, such as wireless LAN that is usable only in a business establishment, office or a home, while some communication paths are usable only at home, such as the via-charger communications method, as in the first method described above.
However, since data in the home contents server cannot be obtained while the user is out according to the first method described above, there is a limit to contents that are available for use from the portable terminal.
A method to access the home contents server via a public telephone line while the user is out and thereby access data is conceivable. However, the user in this instance has no way of knowing how much the communication would cost and how long the communication time would be, which makes it difficult for the user to determine if he or she should elect to obtain contents via the public telephone line or elect to obtain contents via charger upon arriving home.
Furthermore, the first and second methods described above do not take into consideration locally usable communication paths and therefore do not offer opportunities for a user to use inexpensive and/or high-speed communication paths by moving to another location with his or her portable terminal.
In addition, the user himself or herself cannot decide which communication path to use when he or she obtains contents according to these methods. In the second method described above, the path that matches the user's preference according to individual priority registered in the subscriber database is selected, but adapting to changes in user's preference is difficult and communication costs are difficult for the user to understand when he or she uses contents with this method.
Although the user is accurately notified of communication costs according to the third method described above, this method displays the accurate communication cost only after communication has taken place and does not display estimated communication cost before communication takes place. Consequently, this method entails the problem of the user's not being able to select the communication path before the communication actually takes place.
The problems described above can be summarized in the following two points:
1. For users of portable terminals with a plurality of communication paths, the amount of time and costs required to obtain contents are unclear.
2. For users of portable terminals with a plurality of communication paths, it is difficult to select a communication path though which contents can be obtained more advantageously.